Evansville Police Chief Announces Immediate Retirement

Sources at the City of Evansville confirm that Gentile announced his retirement Tuesday afternoon, effective immediately. Evansville Police Captain Tom Laughrey has been appointed interim Chief.

"The Chief announced his retirement," Capt. Laughrey confirmed. "As of today he is retired. The mayor has named me interim chief for the moment."

Late last July, Gentile suffered an aortic aneurysm that required hospitalization. The chief returned to the job after about a month off-duty.

Capt. Laughrey says that as far as he knows health was not the reason for Gentile's announcement today.

Moving forward Capt. Laughrey says they'll work to maintain business as usual. "We're going to regroup. We're going to try and get the police department moving down the road. I don't know what the mayor and the council's immediate decisions will be as far as filling the position."